Tell someone you're travelling to Malta by train and ferry, and the first thing they are likely to ask is how long the journey will take. "A couple of days southbound, a day or two for the return," you say, nonchalantly. They wrinkle their noses, perhaps contemplating the discomfort and exhaustion of a long-haul flight. But with overland travel you're not strapped to a seat willing each minute to pass. The journey is part of the holiday, and there's lots to see and do on the way. Time with family or friends on a train or ship is time well spent, a chance to catch up over a glass or two, free from the day-to-day distractions of doorbells and call centres.

I spent a week in Malta with a couple of friends. We took the Eurostar to Paris, where we changed on to the sleeper to Venice. We chatted into the night over dinner in the restaurant car, as French villages swept past in the moonlight. Next morning, the train rumbled slowly across the causeway into central Venice, a full day of exploring ahead of us.

Another overnight train whisked us south to Sicily, as our three-bed sleeper began to sound like something out of The Waltons ("Night, Mark!" "Night, Rachel!" "Night, Tim!"). The following morning, breakfast was delivered to our compartment, where we attempted to master the art of not dropping coffee and crumbs on each other from gently swaying bunks (I failed).

At Messina, the train is shunted on to a ferry, and you can stay in your carriage or climb on deck to watch Sicily loom in the morning mist. Once across the straits, the train hugs the Sicilian coastline all the way to Syracuse.

The evening catamaran from Pozzallo, south of Syracuse, takes just 90 minutes to Malta. We sailed into Valletta harbour after dark, the lights of the capital ablaze to the right and those of Vittoriosa to the left, with a sense of arrival that air travellers will never know.

We stepped ashore on to one of the friendliest islands in the Mediterranean, welcomed by people who share 150 years of their history with Britain, but who appear none the worse for it. Indeed, the Maltese seem to have a soft spot for Brits. English remains one of Malta's two official languages, and you'll spot familiar red postboxes and telephone kiosks as you stroll the streets of Valletta. The Maltese flag incorporates the George Cross, which was awarded to the country in 1942 for its people's "outstanding gallantry" during the second world war; the medal itself takes pride of place in the war museum, along with remnants of one of the three biplanes that helped to defend Malta during the war.

Valletta makes an excellent base from which to explore the rest of Malta. We travelled on vintage buses painted in gaudy red, white and orange (the national colours) which leave from the bus terminal outside the city gates.

At the top of our list was Mdina, Malta's former capital in the centre of the island, a traffic-free walled city full of palaces, churches and religious houses. We took a bus to Cirkewwa for the ferry to Gozo; and on a boat trip around the coast we visited the "azure window" rock archway and Fungus Rock, named for its medicinal fungus cultivated by the Knights of Malta.

Malta is a wonderful holiday destination, and you don't need to fly to experience your very own "Malta story".

About this article

Mark Smith travels to Malta by train and ferry

This article appeared on p5 of the Travel section of the Guardian
on Friday 27 October 2006.
It was published on
the Guardian website
at 09.53 EDT on Saturday 28 October 2006.
It was last modified at 09.53 EST on Friday 3 November 2006.
It was first published at 19.00 EST on Tuesday 21 November 2006.